Lafferty "sad" about 'One Tree Hill' plot

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James Lafferty has admitted that he was "sad" when he found out that his One Tree Hill character Nathan would be giving up basketball.

However, Lafferty told Zap2It that the plot will give him the chance to show another side of Nathan.

"It was pretty melancholy," he said. "I was sad to see his basketball career go, but as things worked out production-wise it was kind of the way we had to do things.

"I figured that it's a good opportunity for us to show a different side of Nathan and for him to show his worth outside of the basketball court, which he's never really had the opportunity to do. I'm definitely sad to see the basketball go, but it's a welcome challenge for the character, which is a welcome challenge for me."

Lafferty also hinted that Nathan will struggle in his new career as a sports agent.

"It's nice to see the character react to something that he's not necessarily good at, that he has to work to get better at," he said. "I think so far, he's still learning. He's going to make mistakes and he's going to have missteps, but he's under the guidance of Clay (Robert Buckley), who is a seasoned veteran in the field.

"It's going to be a long road for Nathan to become the agent that he wants to be, but I think Nathan is the kind of guy who won't stop until he gets it done the right way."